Daily Life

"Cave of Wonders"

Oh maybe that should say "cage of wonders".  Kate kept calling this "cave" a "cage".  I tried to correct her, but you know...she's two.  This was another idea I pulled from the Play at Home Mom blog.  I had bought a new vacuum cleaner (HALLELUJAH!) so I had a nice big box to let Kate play with.  Then I poked a bunch of holes in the top and stuck Christmas lights through the holes.  Kate LOVED this.  I kept it out for a whole week.

Christmas Crafts

I'm still on the search for more kid-friendly Christmas crafts, but we did do some the other day.  We made a countdown chain (which Kate keeps pulling to pieces) a cotton ball snowman and a construction paper Christmas tree.  I also want to draw you attention to Kate's outfit in this picture.  Yes, she's in her pajamas.  We're scroungy around here and if we get ready at all it's usually in the late afternoon so we look cute when Daddy comes home :)  In fact, it's gotten so bad that the other day I made Kate change her clothes in the morning and she asked where we were going!  ha!  But more specifically I wanted to point out her leggings.  Like a true Arizonian she can't stand wearing long pants (unless they are jeans) and has to scrunch them up to what she deems appropriate.  Same goes for long sleeves and jackets.

Max

I just thought this picture was sweet.  I love how he's sleeping with his arms folded.  And I also wanted a picture of him in his "Super Maxio" onesie my friend Holly made him.

Yee-haw!

I think this picture says it all!  Why ride a horse, when you have a baby brother?

At least he was a good sport about it.

The Results

Yesterday was Max's CT scan.  I didn't sleep hardly at all the night before.  Dustin took off of work that day so we all went to the appointment together.  I thought about leaving Kate with someone, but we ended up just taking her with us.

I rode in the back with the kids on the way to the appointment.  The person who scheduled this scan said that it would be best if he was asleep for it so I was determined to keep Max awake on the car ride over there.  We arrived and Dustin and Kate went inside to check in.  I fed Max in the car and tried to get him to sleep.  I was unsucessful, so we went inside to wait.  Max was SO fussy and wouldn't go to sleep!  I was so worried that we wouldn't be able to do the scan.  But when we got called back there and Max was lying on the table he calmed down.  Dustin stayed in the room with him and after awhile got him to go to sleep and Max slept through the CT scan!  I stayed outside with Kate, and I'm glad she was there with me.  I was holding back tears the whole time.  It's not easy seeing your baby lying on a CT scan bed. 

The scan itself took a lot less time than I thought it would.  The techs remarked on how good he did, and gushed over what a cutie he is.  We left the office and got in the car and I immediately lost it.  I was so worried about my little boy!  I checked my phone and there was a text message from my mom who said that she had put Max's name on the temple's prayer roll.  Even though I was still crying, I felt peace that there were so many out there concerned and praying for Max.

The rest of the day I tried to keep busy and keep my mind off of it.  After we all took a nap, we decided to go out and buy more lights for our house.  Our house now looks much better than it did last year.

I didn't really sleep well last night either.  I knew I would most likely get a call with the results today.  I woke up this morning with a knot in my stomach.  I knelt down and prayed this morning.  I read my scriptures.  I snuggled extra close with my kids and at 9:49 I heard my phone ring and I knew this was it.  I took a deep breath and answered my phone.

My doctor then told me that everything looked great!  She told me that his skull hadn't fused together but that there was some fibrous tissue there.  She said it wasn't anything to worry about and proceeded to explain to me why it was there.  I didn't catch a word of it though, I was so busy choking back tears of joy!  I ended the phone call thanking my doctor profusely, and ran to pick up Max.  I gave him a great big hug and started sobbing.  Kate quietly touched my head and said, "What's wrong Mom?" and I said "People cry when they are happy too.  I'm happy that Max is okay.  Remember how we've been praying that Max's head would be okay?  The doctor just called me and said he's okay"  We all shared a big hug and then I called and shared the news with Dustin.

We are so grateful to everyone who was praying for Max.  We truly did feel your prayers, and we're so happy those prayers were answered!  I cannot describe the joy and relief I feel right now at this moment.  The power of prayer is real and a wonderful thing.  I'm grateful for this past little while and how much my testimony is grown.  I'm so happy everything is okay!!!

Oh Christmas Tree

Every year I dream of getting a real tree.  And every year I don't.  I get too excited and always have to decorate for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving.  So once again, we pulled out our old trusty $20 fake tree and purtied her up. 

We got out the tree and the decorations first thing Friday.

 Kate was very excited!  She's very good at decorating as well.

 If you look closely, you can see us in the christmas ball.  We quickly realized that we were missing a lot of our ornament hooks, so I made sure to buy some in all the midst of my black friday shopping.  So we didn't get to finish it until that night. 

 The finished result.  Except that now I have a red bow on the top of the tree.

It may be a little early, but I already had my kids in their Christmas outfits on Sunday!  I figured they only get to wear them for a few weeks anyway, and I'll be in Snowflake for actual Christmas sunday, so they can wear their outfits as much as I want.  I just love Christmas!

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at Ron and Debbie's in Thatcher. We drove there that morning and arrived about an hour before we were supposed to eat. We made a stop at Grandpa Welker's house then we all went to eat! It was delicious as Thanksgiving always is!

After spending most of the day at Ron and Debbie's, we went to see Grandma Watson and that side of the family before heading home.  They had a dog, and man did Kate love that dog!

She was so funny with it!  She  didn't play with anything else the entire time we were there.  It was *almost* enough for me to revoke my no pets rule.  Almost.  I already clean up enough poop around here.  haha.

And to make a perfect day even better, this was how beautifully it ended.

I love Arizona sunsets.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Now onto Christmas!

"Teacup Ride"

How Kate re-creates Disneyland for Max:

In other Max news, the x-ray showed that his soft spot had closed, so my doctor ordered a CT scan to get a better look.  That is scheduled for next Wednesday.  I'm trying really hard to stay positive about this, but it's hard when you know that surgery is a very likely possibility.  A very scary surgery at that.  I don't want my little boy to go under the knife, and have his skull broken and put back together again.  It makes me sick just thinking about it.  So I really really try not to.  But tonight I'm not succeeding.  I can't help but worry about my little man and what the future holds for him.  Please keep him in your prayers.

I'm so thankful for my family.  I love my husband more than anything and am so grateful for him.  He works so hard to provide for our family and I'm so incredibly thankful that that allows me to be able to do my favorite job: being a mom.  I have to say when I was younger, motherhood didn't sound like very much fun to me.  It wasn't something I really looked forward to, and after seeing a lot of children come and go (my family did foster care), it wasn't something I was ready to jump into when I married Dustin.  It took 4 years for the Lord to finally have me feel like the time was right, and it was the greatest decision I've ever made in my life.  Nothing makes me happier than being home with my children.  I'm grateful for Kate and her ability to make me laugh and test my patience each day.  I'm thankful for my baby Max and all of his cuddly cute-ness.  They are awesome, and they make my life happy.

I'm grateful for the Gospel in my life.  Lately I've been watching someone I know struggle with a decision to leave the church, and it had me questioning my own beliefs.  Is this something I was raised to believe?  Or is it something that I know?  I've never had that one defining moment that makes it undeniably true, I simply know it's true because I can't imagine my life without it.  I know it's true by the joy I feel when I go to church.  I know it's true because I can feel the power of the priesthood in my home.  Yes there are unanswered questions, and things we don't understand, but that's why it's called faith.

I'm thankful for my home.  I'm thankful that we have a place to raise our children.  I'm thankful for Dustin's job and that we have financial stability.  I'm thankful that we have modes of transportation.  I'm thankful for modern technology.  I'm so blessed to live at this time on earth, with electricity, indoor plumbing, and modern medicine.  I'm grateful to live in America, and more specifically Arizona.  I'm thankful for the beautiful weather this time of year, and the beautiful sunsets we experience daily. I'm thankful for my talents and hobbies, and how fun photography is for me.

I didn't mean for this to ramble on so, I guess it's just one of those deep-in-thought nights.  And I guess since it's thanksgiving in 2 days, it's very fitting.  I'm thankful for my life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

4 months

I feel like I need to prepare you for the cute-ness you're about to see.


Wait for it...




Wait for it...




You know what? Nothing I could say could prepare you for this...

BAM!!!  Cutest kid EVER!

Little Max is 4 months old!  I just love this little guy to pieces!

He had his 4 month well child check up a couple days ago and here are his current stats.

Weight: 16.12lbs
Height: 26 inches
Head circumference: 16 inches

He's gotten really tall lately, he's in the 75-90% for height, 75% for weight and 50% for head circumference.

It's not a photo shoot until Kate insists on taking a picture too!

So along with all the good news we got at the doctor, we received some bad news as well.

Max has no discernible soft spot on the top of his head, and my doctor is afraid that his bones have fused together too early. If this is the case, it would might require cranial surgery (which sounds brutal from what I've read online) followed by him wearing a helmet for about a year. I took him to get his head x-rayed yesterday. He was not happy about that! He screamed the whole time.  The technicians thought it was cute that his mouth was wide open in all of his x-rays.

Hopefully we'll hear back soon. I really really hope that it is nothing, or if it is, that it's not bad enough to require the surgery.

So if you find yourself lacking for things to pray for, please send out a little prayer for Max for us!

Play Time

Lately I've made a goal to be a better mom. I want more time with the TV off, and more play time with my kids. So now every morning, instead of camping out in front of the tv, we'll do some sort of arts and crafts, pretend time, dress up...etc. Here are some of the things we've been doing lately.

The main thing we do is paint. I bought some tempera paints at Target. I'll give Kate two colors of paint each day, draw a line down the middle of the paper and say something like "Ok now paint yellow on this side, and blue on this side". It sounds simple, but it's really been helping her to learn her colors.

I can't look at this picture and not laugh.

Sometimes I'll just set the arts and craft supplies on the table and let her go to town!  She always ends up in a big mess, and that's okay.

There is still glitter that refuses to get off my kitchen floor.

Two days ago I found a recipe for face paint, so we gave that a try!  At first Kate didn't want to get messy (so out of character for her), but she quickly got over that and had fun painting her face...and even mommy's!

Yesterday I was cleaning out the office area and I remembered that I have a lot of felt!  So I made this felt board for Kate and cut out lots of different shapes!  She hasn't stopped playing with her shapes all day and is currently napping with them. 

I plan to make lots of different things out of felt for this board. It's definitely a hit!

And here's Max in all his chubby cuteness.  He's big enough to put in the saucer now, and he loves it!

He even gets instructed on the right way to play in it.  "No no no no Max, you don't fall down okay?"

I bought this cute little outfit for him the other day.  It's marked 9 months!  Dang my baby is huge.  Which really doesn't have to do with what I'm posting about.  I just wanted you to see what he's wearing.  I love it.

And last but not least, if you have a problem with witches or dragons in your house, just call Pirate Kate and she'll kill them for you.  She saved Max and I from at least 20 on this day, and we are forever grateful for it.

All in all, I think I'm doing good with my goal.  I've got lots more ideas and activities planned thanks to Pinterest and the Play at Home Mom blog.  It's amazing how well Kate has started to learn during this past little while!